To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) April 19 - 22 — DSA 2010 - The 12th Defense Services Asia Exhibition and Conference, Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For more information go to www.defenseworld.net/go/show.jsp?name=DSA%202010&id=102 April 20 - 22 — AVIATION WEEK MRO Americas 2010, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Ariz. For more information go to http://www.aviationweek.com/events
FORT WORTH — U.S. Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli, vice chief of staff, unveiled the armed service’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap for 2010-2035 here April 15, stressing the importance of manned-unmanned teaming and common control across systems. “The evolution of UAS isn’t done,” Chiarelli said, addressing an audience at the Army Aviation Association of America show, known as Quad-A. “Our UAS must provide not only the ability to see the battlefield, but to shape the battlefield.”
Lockheed Martin announced April 15 it has delivered the first two of seven operational Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) and one companion trailer to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps for Technology Development (TD) phase testing.
FORT WORTH — Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is partnering with the U.S. Army to develop and fly an optionally piloted Black Hawk demonstrator by the end of 2010, says Jim Kagdis, program manager for Sikorsky’s advanced programs. Kagdis announced the development of the demonstrator at the Army Aviation Association of America show, known as Quad-A, here April 15. The aircraft is one of the key projects of Sikorsky Innovations, the helicopter manufacturer’s new technology development organization.
DEPLOYING HUMMINGBIRD: Although the U.S. Army has not issued any formal requirements for a vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV), the service’s UAV program office is signing a memorandum of understanding with U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) for an A160 Hummingbird to send to Afghanistan. The Socom aircraft, on which the Army will install a Vehicle Dismount Exploitation Radar (Vader), will be fielded as a quick-reaction capability.
CYBER-SAFARI: U.S. Air Force officials are eyeing the formation of a Cyber-Safari office designed to manage the procurement of cyberwarfare technologies. The office would be modeled after the Big Safari group at Aeronautical Systems Center, which is well known for procuring the Predator/Reaper family of UAVs. The cyber-office would be designed to field technologies quickly in order to keep up with the rapid pace of growing threats in the cyber-domain, says Brig. Gen. James Haywood, requirements director for Air Force Space Command.
HOUSTON — The Discovery astronauts scanned the shuttle’s heat shielding for orbital debris damage while docked to the International Space Station April 16, uncovering no obvious concerns as they beamed the imagery to NASA’s Mission Control, where experts were to complete an assessment in time for the winged spacecraft to depart April 17. The seven astronauts were scheduled to undock at 8:52 a.m. EDT.
COLORADO SPRINGS — U.S. Air Force officials say the first Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite is set to launch July 8 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on a Minotaur IV rocket, and another SBSS spacecraft is likely to be purchased to add capacity in orbit.
INCREASINGLEY COMPLEX: The Lockheed Martin-led National Team B providing the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) program has received an expected two-year, $424 million contract modification to continue integration work. C2BMC integrates the various sensors and weapon systems in the U.S. missile defense architecture.
MOSCOW — Further consolidation of the Russian aero-engine manufacturing sector is moving a step closer with a key management appointment. Yuri Eliseev, the CEO of Moscow-based Salut, on April 14 became the deputy head of the United Engine Corp. (UEC). Andrey Reus, the UEC CEO, says the appointment will help clear the way for the merger of the two engine producers into a single company. UEC was created two years ago and now controls all Russian aero engine-making facilities, except Salut.
COLORADO SPRINGS — The Space Foundation’s Space Report 2010, released at the National Space Symposium here, paints a picture of positive global growth in the space business, but simultaneously reveals continuing shrinkage of the U.S. launch industry.
ERUPTING CONCERN: While the ash cloud from the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano has wreaked havoc with air traffic, the potential for volcanic ash to disrupt military operations remains a mild concern of the U.S. military elsewhere. In the Northern Mariana Islands near Guam in the Pacific Ocean, a two-year, $250,000 project of the U.S. Geological Survey and Southern Methodist University is using infrasound—in addition to more conventional seismic monitoring—to “listen” for signs a volcano is about to blow.
A dual-band synthetic-aperture radar developed by Lockheed Martin to detect concealed and buried objects has been cleared for installation on an unmanned aircraft as the U.S. Army considers deploying the system to Afghanistan to help defeat roadside bombers. The VHF/UHF-band Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar (Tracer) will begin up to three months of flight testing on a NASA-operated Predator B unmanned aircraft in late August or early September.
NEW SATPHONE: Inmarsat has unveiled the specifications for a handheld phone that is expected to allow it to go head-to-head with Iridium and other global satphone operators. To be rolled out in June, the “IsatPhone Pro” will work in temperatures from -20 to 55C and will have an 8-hr. talk time, with up to 100 hr. of standby battery life. It will be introduced at $699—or as little as $500-600 through special promotions—and will retail at rates of around $1 a minute.
NEW DELHI — Rosoboronservice India Ltd. (ROS(I), a joint venture between Rosoboronexport of Russia and India’s Krasny Marine Services, has launched the first Aviation Division in Goa for Kamovs, Tupolevs and Ilyushin aircraft in the Indian navy inventory. The $25 million center is expected to drastically reduce the turnaround time for aircraft that head to Russia for repairs and have often had to crimp operations as a result.
MOVING BUS: The Alliant Techsystems satellite bus for the U.S. Air Force’s ORS-1 has shipped to Goodrich to receive its electro-optical/infrared payload, according to Tom Wilson, vice president of spacecraft systems and services for ATK. Goodrich will add a payload fashioned after its U-2 Senior-Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System onto the bus prior to integrated system testing.
CONTROLLED DESCENT: The Obama administration will walk the U.S. back from the space-control posture adopted by President George W. Bush, at least if some White House aides have their way. A multi-agency review of national security space policy is underway at the National Security Council. Marine Corps Gen. (ret.) James Jones, President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, is overseeing the review, which is tentatively set to be finished this summer. One objective of the Obama administration is to soften U.S.
NO CARRIER: The Russian navy could be without an aircraft carrier from 2012 until 2017, if plans for a refit of the Admiral Kuznetsov go ahead. Interfax news agency quotes defense industry executives suggesting the carrier would be laid up in 2012 to undergo modernization. The ship entered service in 1991 and is part of the navy’s Northern Fleet. Its air wing includes the Sukhoi Su-33 fighter and Su-25UTG trainer as well as the Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter. The upgrade reportedly will be carried out at the Severodvinsk-based Sevmash facility.
FAST POWER: Boeing is preparing to demonstrate a high-power, lightweight solar electric array developed under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Fast Access Space Testbed program, which it says could offer unprecedented power density for space vehicles. Delivering up to six times the power capability per cubic inch than current systems, the array consists of a louvered set of solar electric array elements that can be packaged in relatively small fairings for launch. The “wings” extend to 23.1 meters (76 ft.) on either side of the vehicle.
HOUSTON — Ad Astra Rocket Co. is assessing a cooperative unmanned rendezvous mission to a yet-to-be-selected asteroid with a spacecraft and scientific payload powered by the experimental Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr), according to Franklin Chang-Diaz, the seven-time space shuttle astronaut who serves as the company’s CEO and president.
U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in Afghanistan and Iraq is falling victim to too little bandwidth, too few trained analysts and a shortage of linguists who can survive a security investigation, but the U.S. Air Force’s ISR chief says solutions are on the way.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Calling the U.S. Army’s Aviation Study II “the never-ending aviation study,” Maj. Gen. James Barclay, chief of the aviation branch, said here April 15 that because of the “cost and importance” of aviation programs, he will continue to aggressively pursue success from the effort.
President Barack Obama on April 15 sketched out plans for an invigorated space exploration program that will put astronauts on an asteroid in the 2020s and in orbit around Mars a decade later. Speaking before an invitation-only audience at Kennedy Space Center’s Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building, Obama made no mention of extending the space shuttle or restarting manufacturing lines to provide components for a future heavy-lift rocket.
